Parna Rastgo: School environmnet as a setting for unofficial learning process among the city

School environment as a setting for unofficial learning process among the city Contemporary cities in developing countries are becoming over populated, and according to this situation diversity of facilities, urban infrastructures and buildings should be assigned. The setting that hosts these issues is the urban area which all groups of the society according to their needs and characteristics deal with it, and try to take the advantages of the city during their everyday activities. Meanwhile, it has been proved that the quality and variety of the activities have a direct relation with the physical facts of the city, so increasing the potentials of the urban area would have a brilliant impact on individual’s cognition, behavior and participation in a long term period. By having an overview on land uses and public areas, many experts highlighted that the cities are designed through the lenses of adults and with their perspective, so children as a sensitive group among the society do not have any role. This situation has led the children to be a forgotten group throughout the city. Therefore providing a new form of urban space designed with children’s viewpoint enhances their role in the society. At the same time they can be educated by a new frame work by the means of the designed urban environment. Thus assigning an environment with different capabilities can foster children’s creativity, and encourages them to show more innovation in their activities. The goal of this thesis is to use techniques of creativity and mapping in school surrounding as a main context that individuals use every day in capital cities of developing countries such as Tehran (Iran), to produce an unofficial educating context for pupils at the age of 7-12. Methods such as mapping, interview and some workshops with children will be use.

Questions

Weather the urban environment can take part as an educational setting?

Explore how environmental education would be promoted by making participatory projects in school surrounding?

How the learning process of children at age 7-12 would be affected by the urban setting?